January 05, 2005
Typical morning for me
Now LAL (Life after Lupus) I get up at 5 and take my meds which are on my nightstand with my ice tea, then I lay there for about 30 mins waiting for my joints to warm up and the meds to kick in, then I go to to the closest as I now take my shower in the evening, I choose what to wear and then I sit down. I rest for a few minutes from the strain of pulling my clothes off the hangers, then I put on my socks which are the hardest to get clear down there-these days I wish I was shorter so I would not have so far to go-LOL, then I stop to get my breath from this activity. Then after a brief rest I put my undergarments on and put my nightgown away. I have to look for something that will keep my joints warm enough to not ache so badly while I am at work yet cool enough for the days when the tempature in the office is too hot and flares my psorasis. Generally I settle for a light shirt with a sweater over it and casual dress pants. Can not wear dress shoes at all anymore as my feet are too swollen and they hurt too bad so what ever I wear I have to wear my tennis shoes with it. Not that it matters because when I get to my desk my feet have swollen more simply from the walk to my desk so I remove the shoes anyway. Anyway I digress-more of a now typical morning for me-Finally I am dressed but out of breath and wore out-the mere act of getting dressed has caused me to wish for enough time to take a nap. Now it is almost 6:00 am, so I have to feed and water the animals. This has ben made easier by location of food and supplies so this is not too hard anymore for me. I then have to make my bed-on the nights when my husband is OTR I only have to pull my side up since I do not move around much in my sleep. Fortunately since my joints hurt so badly today I only have to do that this morning and yes I can not leave the house if my bed is not made! It is not an option for me-LOL. After this I have to rest some more even if I only have my side to make.
Now I still have to do my hair and makeup and wake the children and get them moving. Does not seem like a lot yet when you have to break it down with rest breaks and the like it is so time consuming for me anymore. Most days I want to give up and stay in bed. I was so anxious to get back to work and be productive again so I do not understand why I just want to stay in bed or in my bedroom. I do not know if it is a side effect of the meds or if it is the illness itself but I am becoming very isolated. I do not want to see friends or talk on the phone nor do I want to leave my home-mostly my bedroom. It is so light and noisy everywhere else and I want to sit in the dark and quiet. I am debating on whether or not to mention this to my doctor because I already feel like I drive her nuts.
I plug my curling iron in and hope to have the upper arm strength to be able to curl my hair as it looks like something out of a B horror film if not. I then put on my moisturizer and anti-aging gel and take another break. Sometimes it seems as if I am on break more than I am getting ready but it can not be helped. All of my breaks last the bare minimum of time or I would have to get up even earlier. This is hard enough as I am still waking up every two hours in the night for something to drink. I wake up feeling like I am dying of thirst and so dehydrated. I read somewhere that the high doses of steroids can make you diabetic, as I have low blood sugar and diabetes does run in my family I am thinking I should have my sugar tested. Just to be on the safe side since I have been on massive doses of steroids for quite some time now.
Now it is time to wake the children and this is pretty easy fortunately. Both of them get up fairly well. My son wakes right up and always has the most beautiful smile he has done that since birth and at 15 I am proud to say he continues to do so. My daughter is not a morning person so she struggles more to get up than he does yet she does get up and most of the time in a good mood. That makes such a difference in how the morning goes as anyone with kids can attest. It is hard to have to rely on them for so much help but at the same time I am glad I can.
Now I have to get my make-up on-some mornings I skip this step all together as it is too much. I try because I think if I look better I will feel better but that is not always the case. Then the dog has to be walked. Most of the time one of the children will volunteer for this task other times I either have to assign it or do it myself. As it has been raining and I can not move too well at all-today I am looking for a volunteer or I will assign one to do so.
I always get my son to go start the car for me so it will be warm even on days like today where it is 57 out-the dampness really causes me a lot of pain even on the pain meds.
I have just read up through what I have posted and it looks like so much to do in the mornings, I can not believe how much my life has changed in such a short time. It seems like all I ever do anymore is whine about how bad I feel and I was never like that before. I had a hysterectomy and left the hospital a day earlier than the doctor recommended and was driving a week and a half sooner than they recommended and went back to work two weeks earlier than they recommended so I have always recuperated quickly and this is kicking my butt big time!! This is just one of the many life changing adjustments I have had to make since this flare started.
Posted by Lisa on January 5, 2005 04:06 PM